# Constitution of CSC (Amendment Draft)

Initital version March 15, 2026
Last Updated May 7, 2026

## Name

1. The name of this organization shall be the "Computer Science Club of the University of Waterloo".

## Purpose

1. The Club is organized and will be operated exclusively for educational and scientific purposes in furtherance of:
1. promoting an increased knowledge of computer science and its applications;
2. promoting a greater interest in computer science and its applications; and
3. providing means of communication between persons having interest in computer science.
2. The above purposes will be fulfilled by
1. the organization of discussions and lectures with professionals and academics in the field of computer science and related fields,
2. the maintenance of a library of materials related to computer science and an office containing the library,
3. the maintenance of computing resources and services for the membership, and
4. such other means as decided by the club membership.
3. All resources owned or managed by the Club are to be used in accordance with the purposes of the Club.

## Membership

1. In compliance with MathSoc regulations and in recognition of the Club being primarily targeted at undergraduate students, **full membership** of the Club is open to all Social Members of the Mathematics Society and restricted to the same.
2. **Affiliate membership** of the Club shall be open to all members of the University community, including alumni. Affiliate members shall have all the rights of full members except for the rights of voting and holding elected positions.
3. Membership shall be accounted for on a **termly basis**, where a term begins at the start of lectures in Winter or Spring terms, and at the start of Orientation Week in Fall terms.
4. A person is not a member until they have paid the current membership fee, and have been enrolled in the member database after that. The termly membership fee is set from time to time by the Executive. If the membership fee changes, the validity of any membership terms paid in advance shall not be affected.
5. Honorary membership could be granted upon a decision of the Executive, free of charge, to someone who is not a current undergraduate student at the University. The honorary membership shall have same rights as an affiliate membership.
6. The Club may grant access to its systems, either free of charge or for a fee, to members of the University community in order to offer them services. This does not constitute membership.

## Officers

1. The **Officers** of the Club, shall be:
1. President
2. Vice-President
3. Assistant Vice-President
4. Treasurer
5. Systems Administrator
2. The duties of the **President** shall be:
1. to oversee the general operation of the Club;
2. to call and preside at all general and executive meetings of the Club, except during the election of Officers;
3. to appoint special committees of the Club and the membership and chairs of such committees, with the approval of the Executive;
4. to audit, or to appoint a representative to audit, the financial records of the club at the end of each academic term;
5. to act as a general and primary liaison for the CSC with MathSoc and other organizations; and
6. with the approval of the Faculty Advisor, rule on any point of procedure under the constitution that arises outside of a meeting.
3. The duties of the **Vice-President** shall be:
1. to chair the Programme Committee;
2. to appoint members to and remove members from the Programme Committee;
3. to ensure that Club events are held regularly;
4. to assume the duties of the President in the event of the President's absence; and
5. to assume those duties of the President that are delegated to them.
4. The duties of the **Assistant Vice-President** shall be:
1. to take care of all correspondence of the Club and respond to general inquires;
2. to keep minutes of all general and executive meetings of the Club; and
3. to assume those duties of the President and the Vice-President that are delegated to them.
5. The duties of the **Treasurer** shall be:
1. to keep financial records of the Club, and audit them with the President;
2. to prepare budgets and financial statements for the Club;
3. to sign off cheque requests for reimbursement of expenditures of the Club;
4. to collect and track any revenue of the Club and maintain corresponding records; and
5. to act as a liaison for the CSC with MathSoc, MEF, SLEF, and other funding sources of the Club.
6. The duties of the **Systems Administrator** shall be:
1. to chair the Systems Committee;
2. to appoint members to and remove members from the Systems Committee;
3. to ensure that the duties of the Systems Committee are performed properly;
4. to appoint the chairs of the Terminal Committee and the Web Committee; and
5. to act as a liaison for the CSC with equipment vendors, CSCF, IST, and other similar organizations.

## Executive Council

1. The **Executive Council**, or the Executive, shall consist of all current Officers of the Club and the Faculty Advisor, as a non-voting member.
2. The **Faculty Advisor** shall be selected by the rest of the Executive from time to time from among the faculty of the School of Computer Science. The Faculty Advisor shall be an ex-officio affiliate member of the Club.
3. The Executive should act by consensus, but may act by a voting of majority if a consensus cannot be reached, and an Officer requests so.
4. The Executive has the power to run the affairs of this club within the limits of the Constitution. This includes the power to overrule or issue directions to any Officer.
5. The Executive may introduce, pass, amend, or repeal Standing Resolutions about procedural and instructional details governing the operation of the Club under the Constitution.
6. The Executive may appoint people to, or remove people from, various non-elected positions to help manage the Club, unless the procedure is stated otherwise by the Constitution.
7. If any member provide any points of feedback to the Executive at a meeting of the Club, the Executive is obligated to respond.
8. Minutes of the Executive meetings shall be kept and made available for inspection by any member of the Club upon request. Any member shall be shown the archive of any communications of the Executive, which resulted in a decision being made.

## Elections

1. The Club must elect its Officers in a general meeting for each term within the first two (2) weeks from the beginning of term.
2. The choice of Officers shall be limited to full members of the Club.
3. The election shall be administered by the **Chief Returning Officer** (CRO), who should be chosen on voluntary basis by the then-Executive before the end of the prior term.
4. The CRO shall set the the following and announce them to all members by the general mailing list and all other appropriate channels.
- the date, time and place of the general meeting for the election
- the period of nomination
- the ways of receiving nominations (in person, by email, etc)
- the place where nominations and platforms would be publicized
5. The **nomination period** shall be administered as follows.
1. The nomination period shall be at least one week long after the beginning of the term, and shall end at least 24 hours before the start of the election.
2. The CRO shall be available to receive nominations for the posts of Officers of the Club during the whole nomination period.
3. A nomination shall consist of the nominee's WatIAM, and post(s) nominated for. The CRO must accept all valid nominations.
4. Only full members of the Club, other than the CRO, could be nominated.
5. Only the Systems Committee may nominate one person for the post of Systems Administrator.
6. A member may decline a nomination at any point prior to the taking of the vote.
7. Within 24 hours of the CRO receiving a nomination, the CRO must publicize the nomination.
8. Each nominee shall make a platform and submit it to the CRO. Updates to a platform should be accepted at a reasonable frequency.
9. Within 24 hours of the CRO receiving a platform from a nominee, the CRO must publicize the platform. Each nominee is also encouraged to publicize their platform on their own.
6. On the **day of election**, The meeting shall be administered as follows.
1. The meeting shall commence with the sale of memberships.
2. After a reasonable time, control of the meeting is given to the CRO who will preside over the election of the President, Vice-President, Assistant Vice-President, and Treasurer, in that order.
3. All nominees shall present their platforms. If a position has no nominees, then the CRO shall take nominations from the floor. Any present, eligible member can be nominated.
4. Voting shall be by secret paper ballot, whereas no person should see the voter's identity.
5. The CRO may, if feasible and approved by the meeting, accept absentee ballots from full members. No absentee vote from a member shall be counted if the member is present at the time the vote is taken.
6. Any alternative method of voting, including but not limited to online voting, accepting absentee ballots, or combined voting for multiple posts, shall be put forward as a motion by the CRO to be approved by the majority of the meeting using a hands-up method.
7. The CRO shall not vote except to break a tie.
8. Immediately after the vote is taken and counted, the CRO will announce the results of the election and the winner will be removed from subsequent contests for other posts.
1. Unless when the winner motions, and the majority of the meeting and the elected President explicitly approves, the winner could stay in subsequent contests to run for at most two positions.
9. Following the elections, the candidate of Systems Administrator, if any, must then be ratified by the majority of the meeting following the same procedure.
10. After announcing all results of the election and ratification, any ten (10) full members of the meeting could put forward a motion for calling the election out-of-order, which requires 2/3 votes of the meeting to pass.
7. If for any reason, including a failed election due to lacking of quorum or candidates, an election called out-of-order, or resignation of any Officers, a vacancy of Officer occurs, **extra elections** may be called.
1. The Executive, majority of members at a meeting, or any ten (10) full members may call, at any point, extra elections for all vacant positions of Officers.
2. No extra election should be called if less than four (4) weeks remains for the current term.
3. The calling party of the extra elections may simultaneously appoint a replacement CRO, if the previous CRO is unwilling or unable to fulfill the duties.
4. If the extra elections is called during a meeting for election, the nomination period may be shortened to less than a week, in order to allow the extra elections to take place on the same day of week in the following week.
5. Whenever extra elections are held, they shall follow the usual election procedure, unless stated above otherwise.

## General Meetings

1. A **general meeting** could be called by any of the following:
- the Executive Council,
- the President,
- the Faculty Advisor,
- the CRO, for running elections only,
- any thirty (30) full members, or
- 1/3 of the Club full membership if there are fewer than thirty (30) members.
2. At least one general meeting shall be held each term, called by the CRO, and shall run the election for the term.
3. The calling party of a general meeting shall set the the following and announce them to all members, at least 48 hours prior to the meeting, by the general mailing list and all other appropriate channels.
- the date, time and place of the general meeting
- the business to be considered at the meeting
4. The Club shall hold meetings only in places that are open to all members of the Club.
5. The **quorum** necessary to conduct business for a general meeting is twenty-five (25) full members or 2/3 of the full membership, whichever is smaller.
6. The majority of a general meeting has full power under the Constitution over the Club and its affairs, including exercising any power that the Executive Council could exercise, unless otherwise stated by the Constitution.
7. The Club membership may only act at a general meeting by a hands-up voting of a motion.
8. If a motion is defeated, it cannot be brought again for sixty (60) days.
9. A motion to remove an Officer would require,
- at least one week of prior notice;
- a quorum of fifty (50) full members or 2/3 of the full membership, whichever is smaller; and
- a 2/3 vote of the meeting.

## Committees

### Programme Committee

1. The Programme Committee (Progcom), shall be a standing committee chaired by the Vice-President.
2. The Progcom shall plan and arrange the events of the Club.
3. The Vice-President shall appoint and remove members to and from the Progcom as needed.
4. The Progcom shall be responsible to the Executive via the Vice-President.

### Systems Committee

1. The Systems Committee (Syscom), shall be a standing committee chaired by the Systems Administrator (Sysadmin), and consists of only current students of the University.
2. Alumni members of the Club may serve as Systems Committee Advisors, with limited access under the discretion of the Sysadmin.
3. The Syscom, under the leadership of the Systems Administrator, shall,
1. operate any and all computer systems in the possession of the Club,
2. maintain and upgrade the systems and their software operated by the Club,
3. facilitate and oversee the proper use of equipment operated by the Club.
4. New members of the Syscom may be appointed at the Sysadmin's discretion if they demonstrate interest and enough existing ability in systems administration.
1. When a member is added to or removed from the Syscom, the whole Syscom and the Executive must be notified.
2. In case the Syscom has no members, the Executive may appoint a new member, in consultation with Syscom Advisors.
5. Members of the Syscom may be removed by the Sysadmin for cause, including but not limited to neglect of duties, or if they no longer show interest in systems administration.
6. The Syscom may nominate to the Club one of its member for Systems Administrator who are in good standing with the Club, the Committee, and the Executive.
7. Syscom members shall have root access to all machines operated by the Club.
8. In case no Systems Administrator were nominated or ratified, members of the Syscom may self-govern and run the committee, working together collectively. In such case,
1. The Syscom must notify the Executive of all their major decisions.
2. The Executive may veto decisions made by the Syscom at their discretion.

### Terminal Committee

1. The Terminal Committee (Termcom), shall be a standing committee chaired by the Terminal Committee Lead, who shall be a member of the Syscom, appointed by the Sysadmin.
2. The Termcom and its members shall, under the delegation and supervision of the Syscom, fulfill various tasks including but not limited to updating, investigating and fixing errors, and managing certain resources or services.
1. Members of the Termcom shall gain limited access to any club resources necessary to fulfill their duties.
3. New members of the Termcom may be appointed at the Termcom Lead's discretion if they show interest in systems administration.
1. When a member is added to or removed from the Termcom, the Syscom must be notified.
4. Members may be removed from the Termcom by the Termcom Lead as needed without reason.
5. If 2/3 of the Syscom agrees, they may overrule or exercise the power of the Termcom Lead.

### Web Committee

1. The Web Committee (Webcom), will be a standing committee, chaired by the Webmaster appointed by the Sysadmin.
2. The Webcom shall maintain and develop the club website with infrastructure support from the Syscom, if necessary.
3. The Webmaster shall appoint and remove members to and from the Webcom as needed.

### Other Committees

1. The President, with approval of the Executive Council, may appoint such special committees as are deemed necessary.

## Office

1. The Club regularly runs a space called the CS Club Office (the Office).
2. the purpose of the Office is to
- contain the library
- conduct club business
- keep club records and club assets
- serve as the mailing address of the Club
- provide a general activity space for club members
3. The Office should only be open when an Office Staff is present. The Office must be closed upon leaving of the last Office Staff.
4. The Executive shall appoint Office Managers from time to time. The Office Managers are responsible for appointing, training, and supervising Office Staff.
5. The Office Managers and other Office Staff appointed, should
- keep the Office reasonably accessible
- keep the Office clean and safe
- manage the library
- carry out daily club operation
- enforce the Code of Conduct in the Office

## Finances

1. The Treasurer shall, each term, present to the Executive Council a financial statement for the previous term. They shall, before the end of each term, ensure that the records are complete, accurate, and in a good condition to make this task as easy as possible for the next Treasurer.
2. The Treasurer shall prepare a budget each term, to be presented to MathSoc, and shall be responsible to ensure that the Club is represented at the MathSoc budget meeting.
3. The Treasurer could, in consultation with the Executive, appoint at most one person as the Assistant Treasurer, whose purview shall be limited at the Treasurer's discretion.
4. The signing officers shall be chosen by the Executive, and be limited to no more than 3 persons among:
- the Treasurer
- the Assistant Treasurer
- the President
- the Vice-President
5. At the end of each term, the President or their representative shall, jointly with the Treasurer, examine and audit the financial records of the Club.

## Code of Conduct

### Purpose and Scope

1. The Club is committed to provide and maintain a safe, friendly, and welcoming environment, free from harassment and discrimination, to all members of the University of Waterloo community who are interested in Computer Science.
2. We expect everyone who gets involved with the Club's business, including guests, to abide by this Code of Conduct in all community venues, in-person or online, as well as in all one-on-one communications pertaining to the Club's business.
3. The Code of Conduct does NOT cover criminal matters. In case of any threats or acts of physical violence, or any emergency situation that needs immediate assistance, please contact UW Special Constable Service at ext. 22222 or direct line 519-888-4911, or contact local police if off-campus.
4. The Code of Conduct is in addition to existing University Policies, such as [Policy 33](https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-33), [34](https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-34), and [42](https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policies/policy-42-prevention-and-response-sexual-violence). Initiating a Code of Conduct complaint does NOT exclude other paths, such as filing complaints to the MathSoc or the University according to relevant policies, or going to UW Special Constable Service.

### Expected Behaviour

1. We encourage all members of the community to:
- Participate in an authentic and active way. In doing so, you contribute to the health and longevity of this Club.
- Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions.
- Assume good faith of each other, attempt collaboration before conflict.
- Be mindful of your surroundings and of other fellow members of the community.

### Unacceptable Behaviour

1. Unacceptable behaviours include intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory or demeaning speech or actions at any venue of the community.
2. Harassment may include:
- harmful or prejudicial verbal or written comments related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability, etc;
- inappropriate use of nudity or sexual images in public spaces, including presentation slides;
- deliberate intimidation, stalking or following;
- harassing photography or recording;
- sustained disruption of talks or other events;
- inappropriate physical contact or unwelcome sexual attention.
3. For purposes of this procedure, please refer to the University [Policy 33](https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-33) and the [Ontario Human Rights Code](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90h19) for definition of terms, such as “harassment” and “discrimination”.

### Enforcement

1. The following personnel of the Club are entitled to enforce the Code of Conduct:
- any Office Staff, for incidents witnessed in the office;
- any appointed moderators, for online venues of the Club;
- the Event Coordinator(s), for an in-person event of the Club;
- any Officer of the Club, for all of the above and any other cases.
2. An enforcement could be implemented by issuing either or both of the following:
- a verbal warning,
- a temporary ban from the offended venue, for 1 week at maximum.
4. The Executive shall be notified of any enforcement of the Code of Conduct within the same day. The Executive may reverse the sanction or escalate the case as a complaint as deemed necessary.
5. If you notice any unaddressed violations of the Code of Conduct, please notify a corresponding enforcement personnel to help maintain a safe place for everyone. No situation is considered inconsequential.

### Handling Complaints

1. If the Executive, or any member of the community, feel that the enforcement alone cannot sufficiently address the situation of certain violation, or if any subject of an enforcement wants a formal review, contact [the Executive Council](mailto:[e-mail]) of the Club to file a formal complaint.
1. If contacting the Executive Council is inappropriate due to the nature of the incident, you may contact [the Faculty Advisor](mailto:[e-mail]) instead.
2. Upon each complaint, a Handling Committee, consisting of all Officers and the Faculty Advisor of the Club, unless they are personally involved in or related to the situation, should be formed and chaired by the President, the Vice-President, or the Faculty Advisor in order.
3. The Handling Committee should interview the subject of the complaint and any witnesses if possible, then use their best judgment to determine if the complaint is valid and, if so, determine any appropriate action to resolve the case and avoid a subsequent incident:
- A written warning.
- Suspension from any spaces and events of the Club for 3 months or the rest of the term, which is longer.
- Removal from any internal positions.
- If the subject is an Officer, a motion to the pending general meeting for removal of the subject from the position
- If the case is very serious, or the subject has a pattern of similar offences, expulsion from the Club.
- The subject will be refunded the membership fee paid in advance for future terms
- The Executive may review the expulsion once a year at the subject's request, to see if it's appropriate to reinstate the subject.
- Filing a formal complaint through the MathSoc, the Federation, or the University.
4. The chair of the Handling Committee shall inform both the complainant and the subject of the resolution of the complaint and, if either of them disagree with the decision, they are entitled to appeal to the MathSoc, the Federation, or the University.
5. The complaints must be handled confidentially. Information that may be made available to general members upon request for public interest shall be strictly limited to:
- the date the complaint was made,
- the name and WatIAM of the subject,
- the members of the Handling Committee,
- the decision on the complaint, if made, and
- the date the decision was made.
6. In addition to the information mentioned above, the Faculty Advisor may also keep the name and WatIAM of the complainant and a summary of the complaint. This information may be available to Officers upon handling future complaints if the Faculty Advisor deems it relevant.

## Amendments

1. An amendment of the Constitution could be initiated by the Executive Council or any thirty (30) full members. The initiation shall involve making the amendment available for viewing, including in the CSC office.
2. There shall be at least twenty-eight (28) days between the amendment's initiation and announcement of the finalized version. Members shall be provided an avenue to discuss the amendment throughout this time period.
3. The finalized version of the amendment shall be announced to all members by the general mailing list and all other appropriate channels.
4. A general meeting shall be called to consider the finalized version of the amendment at least seven (7) and no more than thirty (30) days after its announcement.
5. An amendment requires a 2/3 vote of a general meeting for adoption.

## Dissolution

1. The Club shall only be dissolved in case the Mathematics Society decides so.
2. In the event of dissolution of the Club, all assets of the Club shall be transferred to the Mathematics Society of the University of Waterloo.

## Revision

1. The latest revision of the constitution is effective May 15, 2026.